The Nightmare Starts on Christmas
by NightlyCrazex
Summary: Draco starts his 6th year at Hogwarts as a very changed person indeed. Takes very little from HBP and DH. Rated M for later chapters
1. Chapter 1

A/N: So, the usual disclaimer goes here- don't own any of these characters, cause if I did, I wouldn't be writing this =]

This is my first 'official' post on so please review and tell me what you think? And sorry about the short chapter, the next one is much longer, I promise!

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He watched her as she walked across the hall to her table, laughing with the Weaslette. He had always watched her – in contempt, in fascination, in lust and in admiration. Always watching, because he knew how his feelings would be received. But now it was all over. Draco **had** to approach her now. He couldn't let himself sit back, not now, not after the summer he had. Draco thought in fear and hatred of all that he had been witness to this summer. He had until Christmas hols to make the trio, to make **her** believe him. He needed their protection. He felt himself rising, moving toward her.

"Granger." He forced himself to say her last name. She turned, surprised and wary. He smirked.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" Weasley spat, leaning across the table, mouth half-full. Draco narrowed his eyes in disgust and turned back toward Hermione. She looked even more surprised at his dismissal of her hot-tempered friend.

"I need to speak to you about something of great importance. After dinner, in the library. Feel free to bring Weasley and Potter. This involves all of you." Draco paused, allowing himself to take in the beauty of her eyes, focused solely on him, analytical.

"What – can you tell us what this has to do with?" Hermione's voice was quiet, and not devoid of suspicion. He was almost proud of her – even with her thirst for the knowledge he was offering her, she knew to hold back.

"I learned a lot this summer. And, of course, I know how _eager_ you can get for new information." Not as cyptic or a subtle as he would have preferred, but Griffindors can require a more up-front approach. The taunt was just thrown in for fun.

"After dinner then." Hermione smiled softly, her warm eyes alight with curiosity. Draco had to mentally shake himself and look away. He had never before seen that much loved look directed at him. It filled him with longing, but he turned anyway, nodding at a shocked Weasley and a sullen Potter before turning to leave the Great Hall. He knew his house-mates would want to know what he was up to, and he had no desire to be interrogated by an irate Pansy. Slowly climbing the stairs to the library, Draco allowed himself a momentary smile – with any luck, his plans would start falling into place tonight.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: See? I told you this one was longer! Enjoy!

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Hermione watched Malfoy confidently swagger out of the Great Hall with intense curiosity. _What's Malfoy playing at?_ She was torn between wanting to find the answer to this new mystery and her intense distrust of all things 'Malfoy.' Turning back to Ron and Harry, she realized that they too were staring after Malfoy in wonder. She swiftly kicked them both under the table. _Honestly, they're so oblivious! Do they want the whole school to follow us later?_

"What did he mean, 'Mione? He can't be serious? It has to be a trick!" Ron was spluttering, trying to find an explanation that fit his understanding of the world. Malfoy offering to help them seemed to be a tad to much for Ron to process. Harry fixed his gaze on Hermione. His quiet, authoritative voice shocked Ron into silence. This side of Harry was still so new and strange that, even after the summer they spent together, it managed to take Ron and Hermione by surprise.

"'Mione, what do you think? Should we hear him out?" She thought she heard a hint of pain in Harry's voice, and she filed the thought away for later contemplation. Careful of Harry's reaction, she reached across the table and took hold of the boys' hands, glancing back and forth between the two.

"I think we should Harry. We have no idea how he feels about his father's imprisonment though, so I think we should tread carefully. Ron might be right about it being a trap." Shae paused, planning her next words carefully. "Harry I know how you feel about Malfoy Senior, and about Malfoy's aunt," no-one dared mention Bellatrix's name in front of Harry, "but try to keep an open mind towards this Malfoy. You of all people know what it's like to be judged on the actions of your father." She peeked at him from under her fringe. He had a small frown that darkened his eyes as he glanced quickly at the Head table and back again. Ron was slowly turning red at the thought of trusting a **Malfoy**, but a sharp look from Hermione made him snap his mouth shut. She leaned forward, drawing Harry's eyes back to hers. There was acceptance in their shadowed depths.

"I'm proud of you Harry." Hermione whispered. All three nodded, and turned back to the feast and the conversation surrounding them.

Neville was recounting his vacation to Paris over the summer with his Grandmother. After the events of last June, Neville had grown exponentially in confidence. _He's a new person,_ Hermione thought. _It's amazing how challenges can change us. Look at Harry – he's withdrawn and cautious now, where Neville is confident and outgoing._ Glancing discreetly at Harry, her heart gave a throb of sympathy for him. He had almost completely shut down this summer, between the loss of Sirius and the revelation of the prophecy. She shared a look with Ron, vowing to pull her best friend out of his mire of guilt before long.

"-elieve who we saw there! Malfoy and his mum! Grams and I couldn't believe they left the country, what with Malfoy's dad being convicted and all." Neville was about to launch into what was most likely a rant involving the Longbottom matriarch's strong opinions (and a little bragging on Neville's part) when Hermione cut in sharply.

"Stop! You saw Malfoy where?" She pinned him with her best 'tell-me-everything-or-die-slowly-' glare. Neville gulped.

"Uh, well, you know I was in Paris for two weeks this summer with Gran, well on one of the last days there we saw Malfoy and him mum-"

"Where? I mean where in Paris?" Hermione interrupted.

"Well Gran and I were on our way to see the Louvre and we saw them walking out of a restaurant. Angelina's, I think." Neville looked confused by Hermione's questioning.

"Did you see anyone with them? Or where they went after?" Neville's forehead creased as he tried to remember.

"I saw the Malfoys leaving with a crowd, muggles and wizards, but they didn't seem to _be with_ any of them. As far as where they went…" Neville blushed. "I disillusioned myself, like you taught us, Harry." Neville whispered as he glanced at a darkly interested Harry apprehensively.

"Nice one Neville!" Ron cheered and clapped him on the back.

"Heh- thanks Ron. Anyway I followed them until they went into a small building on this out of the way street. It looked like a lawyer's office. I just figured that they were there to speak with their solicitor about the arrest." Neville shrugged. "I went back to Gran after that. Why the questions?" Neville looked speculatively at the trio. Hermione cleared her throat delicately and pinned Neville with a pointed look.

"Neville, you were with us last June. Do you really wonder at our interest?" She glanced around at their group. Ron was, surprisingly, sitting back with a contemplative look covering his features. Harry was leaning forward, looking down at his intertwined fingers with a deep frown. Looking around at the rest of the hall, Hermione realized that most of the students were getting up to leave. Neville stood too, and she turned to look up at him.

"No need to explain Hermione, I can't believe I even asked!" He grimaced at his lack of tact. "See you in the Tower!"

Hermione turned back to her boys, smiling fondly at them before refocusing.

"Let's go meet Malfoy. I want to hear what he has to say." She stood and they followed suit, albeit a tad reluctantly on Ron's part.

_I know Ron doesn't trust anything that comes out of Malfoy's mouth, but I wish I knew what Harry thinks about all this.

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A/N: I know this one was kinda lame, but there will be much more drama and MUCH more Draco in the next chapter!Feel free to comment and inflate my head =]


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thank you all for the reviews! Here's Chapter 3, and sorry for the wait, this has been a hectic week! Well this one's a bit longer, so I hope you all enjoy!  


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Draco was trying to calm his heart. Any minute now, **she **would walk through those doors, as she had done so many other times. Now though, she would be coming to see **him**. He knew she didn't trust him. _**Yet**__,_ he thought, _she doesn't trust you __**yet.**_ He jumped up and started pacing again. _Potter and Weasley will be with her. Will they even try to listen to me?_ Draco's greatest fear for this totally unprecedented meeting was that the animosity between himself and the group would prove to be too much for Weasley and Potter to get over. Over the years, and especially since the summer, Draco had given up all of his bigoted hatred and fear. It was useless, and dragged him down – what self respecting Slytherin would allow himself to be held back? _How will she react?_ As quickly as the thought came he shut it out. He couldn't allow himself to think of her reaction, to assume to know the inner workings of her beautiful mind.

The door of the library creaked open. The sound of it shattered Draco's reverie, and he spun quickly to watch as they entered. As expected, Weasley was a unique shade of red, and Potter was muttering under his breath. She had dragged them here – he was sure of it. _She wants to give me a chance!_ The thought reverberated around his head as he stared at the bushy-haired girl in question.

"All's well 'Mione." Potter's voice was low but clear, and it occurred to Draco that Potter might be more intelligent than he seemed. Those mutterings were not the insults or objections Draco had taken them to be, but rather they had been spells to check for traps and intruders. _I wonder if this precaution was Potter's idea or Hermione's?_

"Malfoy?" Hermione's voice sent shivers rippling down Draco's spine, and he realized he had been staring blankly at them since they entered. Turning away to hide his flush of embarrassment, Draco gestured to the chairs he had arranged and sat down.

When they were all seated, he spoke. "I'm glad you decided to come."

"Yeah, well, we better not be wasting our time." Weasley muttered half-heartedly. Draco took it as a good sign.

"Before I begin recounting my summer hols, there is some air I would like to clear. Recently, I have seen and experienced some things that have completely upended my perceptions of the world I live in. There are a few things I would like to apologize for. You may decide to forgive me or not, but I want to say this, all the same." He paused to take a breath, and hid a smirk at the astonished faces in front of him. _So far, so good. Now sell it!_

"I apologize for all that I did to hurt you over the past years. I was a spoiled child, raised to bigotry. I was also unused to being turned away by anyone." At this, he aimed his mercurial gaze onto Potter's face, watching as realization dawned in his eyes.

"It wasn't undeserved, Malfoy. You really were a brat." Harry quietly commented. Poor Weasley still seemed confused, looking between Harry and Draco with a frown. Draco ignored him.

"I realize that Potter, I know I was the first one to sling the mud, but you have to understand, I only knew how to impress the friends my father chose for me, and I did just that." The raven-haired boy nodded in understanding and turned to explain it to Weasley, who acted surprisingly cool at the memory. Draco turned then to Hermione. _I always do save the best for last,_ he thought.

"Granger, I want you to know that I never meant it when I called you a 'mudblood.' It was purely Slytherin politics. The only reason I had to hate you was that you always beat me for the top grade in our year." Here he smirked, and her lips twitched , trying to suppress a grin.

"Your information, Malfoy." Weasley bit out.

"Right," Draco took a deep breath, attempting to calm his nerves, "well this summer was a learning experience, to say the least. Thanks to you three, my father failed the Dark Lord, which is not something that is easily forgiven. This summer I was trained with my Aunt Bellatrix to –" Draco faltered, seeing Potter's scowl deepen. _What did I say?_

"Please continue." Hermione said softly, not meeting his eyes. She laid a hand on Potter's closed fist and glanced at Weasley with an indecipherable expression. Draco chose to ignore this for the time being and picked up where he left off.

"I was trained this summer to master the unforgivables, occlumency and legilimency, and several other Dark Arts spells that I would rather not name, at present. The point of my training was so that I could be inducted into my family's _honorable_ fraternity." This last was spit out, like the bitter lie it was. Draco could not meet their gazes, though he could feel them burning into the side of his face. "I was ordered to take up my father's mantle, as the head of the family, and as a valued servant of the Dark Lord." There- he could name the reactions to that statement- a gasp from Granger, a growl from Weasley, and a subtle shift of position from Potter. So predictable, though Potter's reactions had thrown him off all night. _Why is he so changed from the rival I thought I knew?_

"I was given two tasks to complete by the end of the school year. Regardless of my own wishes or the progress I have made, by Christmas I am to be marked." So many reactions threatened to distract Draco from his story, but he plowed on. "I am going to tell you things, things that I will assume are being used to help you destroy the Dark Lord. I am going to pledge myself to you, Potter, to do as much as I can to help your cause, but I need something in return."

He snapped his head around to stare into Potter's untrusting eyes. Draco let some of his pain show through his mask. _Anything to convince them to help me. _ "My mother- my mother is trapped in Malfoy Manor, with _Him_. I want her rescued, or saved, or whatever it is that you do, Potter! I want my mother and myself free from that mad-man! And I want your wizard's oath that no harm will come to us, so long as you are able to prevent it. Do you so swear, Potter?" Looking across the table at Potter, Draco poured all of his pain, all of his hatred, and all of his discomfort into his eyes, challenging the bespectacled boy to accept all of him, or none of him.

A full minute passed before Potter seemed ready to give an answer. Shrugging off the hands of his two best friends, Potter stood and walked around the table, stopping in front of Draco, waiting until the blonde was standing too. Then he put out his hand.

"It's never too late, yea?" Draco felt relief course through his veins at the reference to their first year, and took the offered hand, allowing his thanks to shine in his eyes.

"Never."

***

"Harry, please don't tell me you believed his bullshit!" Ron exploded suddenly. Harry was glad he had decided to throw some silencing wards around the bookshelves when Ron asked for a private talk. He now looked at Ron, trying to think of a way to pacify his friend.

"What do you mean, Ron?"

"What do I mean? Malfoy's feeding you that crap and you ask me what _I_ mean?! Harry, please listen to reason! He's clearly setting a trap! The Malfoy we know would never show all his cards like that! Maybe he is in a bad spot, but that doesn't mean that we need to _trust_ him!!" Ron was fuming now, completely oblivious to Harry's rising anger. Before Hermione could intervene, Ron decided to skip to the harshest piece of his 'Malfoy-is-evil' speech.

"He's _using you_, Harry! His dad's off to prison a now he finally realizes who is going to win this thing with You Know Who, and he wants to be on the winning side! He doesn't care about anything or anyone but himself, and he's taking advantage of your 'hero-complex'!"

"I _do not_ have a hero complex, Ron." Harry was on his tipping point, and Hermione decided that now was the best time to get involved.

"Ronald Bilius Weasley! How dare you bad mouth someone who just bared their soul to us! Not only did Malfoy apologize, but he offered to help Harry, and us! What's more important, Ron? A schoolboy grudge or information that could help us to destroy Vol-You Know Who? I for one am _very_ proud of Harry for being able to overlook the past in favor of the present." By now, Ron was sullen and resentful, but he knew that she was right. She nodded with conviction and turned to Harry, who shot her a quick grin.

Turning back to Ron, Hermione said, "So, are we all in agreement? We give Malfoy a chance, and protection for his mother and himself, in return for his help and information?"

"Aye." Harry agreed, looking at Ron. The stubborn redhead hesitated, but his own logic won over in the end.

"Aye, lets go see what the ferret has to say." He conceded with a grin. They all took a second to laugh at Ron's extremely stubborn nature before they went back out to the library to give their answer to Malfoy. _So much for a relaxing first night back,_ thought Hermione. _At least this year will be different, in one way._


End file.
